The Queen of Subtlety

Subtlety, if you ask me, is not an art possessed and practiced by many. Some think they have it, but don’t. Some actually have it, but never put it into action at the right moment. And well, some others have it, and practice it quite well.

And then there’s Princess (you need to spend 5 continuous minutes with her to know why exactly she is Princess) who does not know that subtlety exists. Which makes her nothing less than The Queen of Subtlety.

Incident #1 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and her two friends (which includes me) were on a break; sipping tea at the pantry. There was no one else in the pantry. If the three of us weren’t talking, there would be no other sound there. We were discussing random life issues, friends, relatives and other such. For once, there was ABSOLUTELY no gossip about colleagues happening right then. After a few minutes, our manager’s ex-manager (who still likes to act the part of our manager’s manager) walked in to fill her tea cup. There was a moment of silence right then, as we had just finished a random conversation. For no reason in particular, on seeing the lady that walked in, Princess said “Shhh” at us (but alas, loudly enough for all of the pantry to hear). We were not talking about her, but I’m sure after the “Shhh”, she thought we were. Sigh! 🙄

Incident #2 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and I were at our workstations, quietly going about our lives work. And then, Princess rolled her chair towards me and we began discussing something — I’m not sure if it was work or something else. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our manager’s manager walk into our bay, and launch into a conversation with our manager. I whispered to Princess to check them both out, that they’re colour coded (they were both in red shirts). That’s ALL I said. Princess turned around, looked, and burst out laughing. And then she turned back to me, saw my horrified expression and went “Ooops” and eerily quiet. I dread to even think what he might have thought! Sigh! 🙄

Incident #3 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and I work on the 7th Floor of our office building. We have a friend on the Ground Floor. Once, after collecting a courier that Princess received (a reasonably sized box which looked suspicious even to me!), we decided to walk over to our friend and have a chat. As we walked in, I told Princess that we’ll tell our friend we’re here to have a serious meeting with her and her manager, and that Princess was to hide the courier from the friend’s view. We walked to her seat, and found her seat vacant; she was in a meeting room with her team. As we were contemplating whether to stay or leave, the meeting room door opened and the friend’s teammate walked out. Instead of being a normal human being and just staying calm, Princess did something very close to acrobatics and tried to hide the courier box from the girl’s sight (don’t ask me why!!). Of course, quite unsuccessfully at that. We got a look of weird displeasure from that girl. Sigh! 🙄

Incident #4 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and I were walking to the pantry, for a cup of tea. Just as we got out of the bay, we saw two foreigners standing by the door, having a serious discussion. I walked on in silence. But not the Princess, oh no! She took one look at the two (fairly older) gentlemen and said “Oooh! Nice.” With smoke coming out of my ears, I hastened my pace, looked at her horrified and asked her what the hell that was! And she explains, “But I meant one of their bags; not them!” Yes, very evident that was. Sigh! 🙄

As The Queen of Subtlety continues to rule, the rest of us are sure that we’ll have many more foot-in-mouth moments, handed over in a golden plate, even without having to say a word! Secretly, I think I need to make new friends.

Nightmares for rent

“Where will I keep the garbage? Will someone come to collect it?”
*no…we usually used to eat it the next day*

“Can I move the furniture around?”
*dude, you decide. Stop calling me for every simple thing*

“Who hung all these pictures here?”
*they got bored and hung themselves*

“Whose picture is that?”
*go figure instead of wasting my time*

“The stars in that room scared me. Who stuck them here?”
*thank god you’ve never looked up at the sky!*

“There’s a weird sound every night. What’s that?”
*probably the neighbours’ reaction when they saw you*

“What have you told the tenants upstairs about me?”
*the truth…which explains the weird night sound*

“What will I tell them if they ask me how I know you?”
*there isn’t much, is there? :P*

“Blah blah blah…”
*tearing my hair out*

“You know what? I don’t have Gtalk or Gmail at office :(”
*overjoyed at the prospect of limited bugging*

“I took a phone connection with 400 free messages and low-rate calls.”
*tearing the remaining hair out and thinking ‘why oh why did I do this!?:roll:*

“Blah blah blah…”
*keeps telling him my parents are the house owners, not me, but he doesn’t seem to hear*

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When you know a crazed man, you generally stay away. You try and be polite (though you snub him every chance you get), but you generally keep away, keeping your family also away from him. You try to limit your connection with him to a few words over a chat or across a blog.

But at times, your sense of judgment fails you, and you break those rules, become friends, introduce him to your family… and WORST of all, rent out your house to him! 😮 That too, a good house in a good locality. And what’s more!? It’s fully furnished, fully furnished, fully furnished (there you go: three times over :P) too!

Damn! Now, before long, the house would be virtually invisible. All that passers-by would be able to see would be a huge blob of cobwebs 🙂 Serves you right, Priya, for renting out your house to that wannabe, pseudo-spiderman whom you’re always at war with.
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Oh…  Hi Vimmuuu… hows life? It’s always a pleasure talking to you!

I Finished it to Win these ;)

Like I wrote here, I had also participated in CB‘s story-finishing contest – Finish it to win it. I finished it to win…these following awards. Well, my story was so lame, but I had fun participating, writing, commenting and then commenting again on the first prize winner’s post 😀

Here’s the link to the first half of the story. And here’s what I wrote, the second half 😀 Bear with me (and the story).

And here are what CB gave!!! Yey!

For participating...and writing a story 😉

...and for guessing who wrote which one 😉

Three’s never a crowd!

After quite a long time (4 and a half months, for sure), I called up one of my closest friends — to know that she was 4 months pregnant!! So much for being “close friends”!!! 😛

And after the inital whats and whaats and whaaats, I let out one string of abuses her way for not letting me know. And with that ever cheeky that-don’t-impress-me-much tone, she tells me, “Oh! I thought I’ll just give you all a surprise!” Apparently, in all that excitement and tests and waiting-for-the-confirmation delays, she forgot to call us. Then she thought about it a month later…by then she was sure she’d get killed for not having told us friends. And then, she thought ‘what the heck, let the baby come out…and i’ll let them know”. The ass! Hehe…she was quite sure then, that we wouldn’t be meeting till the baby’s out 😛

I’ve been friends with this mad girl since my 9th grade…and it’s always been the ‘heights of fun’ when the two of us, along with the third musketeer, joined together! All 3 of us are “younger sister” to some super brothers…and while we both have 1, she has 3!! Which explains her escalated level of madness!

We’ve stayed cooped up in her smelly bedroom from morn till night, pretending to study…while all we ever did was read novels and eat and make endless phone calls and eat and sleep and eat and gossip and eat and…oh, you get the picture, right? We’ve walked from her house, all the way to mine (some good 8-9kms) in the scorching sun, chattering away on about everything. We’ve spent hours together discussing loves, crushes and heartbreaks.

We’ve travelled all over Trivandrum for no reason at all (as a result of talking animatedly and boarding any damn bus without looking at the name board!!)…in fact, once we sat right in front of the conductor’s seat in the bus and refused to take a ticket 😀 Just before getting off the bus, when the conductor asked us for the ticket, she actually told him “Oh, innu ticket edukkan oru moodilla” (Oh, we didn’t have the mood to get a ticket today!) 😛

We’ve bunked our classes to join a third class’ PT hour {two of us were in the same class n this mad one was in another; so, while the every class had just one PT hour a week, we had one everyday…almost ;)}and play in the hot sun (guess we were the only 3 girls the PT master didn’t hate :D)! We’ve always wanted to be in the same class (precisely why the teachers conspired and always made sure at least one among us was separated from the gang during class hours) that she’s hidden under our bench, only to be discovered and thrown out by the teacher!

Edited to add this after this memory suddenly came back: We’ve lurked around after school hours, waiting for all the teachers to leave, then gone behind the school building and tried to understand what’s the ‘cool’ factor about smoking 😉 After a puff each and volleys of coughing fits and teary eyes, we ran off into the girls’ loo when we heard our PT master demanding who the smoker was (he saw smoke, apparently!) A poor 7th grade boy got caught and interrogated [they did the spell smell-check on him, but he came off clean :D], but no one ever figured out!

We’ve bunked school to attend the “La Fest” (an inter-school fest conducted by Loyola School in Trivandrum, every year), in spite of being warned against it by our class teacher–and then disappointed her by bringing her leave letters signed by our parents that actually said “Was unable to attend class since I wanted to attend La Fest”, instead of a cooked up “fever” story 😀

Long story short, we’ve been the perfect ‘undisciplined gang of girls’ at school (and SO NOT proud about it now 😦 ) By the time we passed out of school, we ‘grew up’ and vowed we’ll become better people. All that took to make us better people was to get the 3 of us going in 3 different ways 😀

We still get back to being the ‘undisciplined gang of girls’ whenever we meet (though we pretend to be civilised). All of us were mad enough on the other’s wedding and instead of gifts, presented the ‘bridegroom’ with condolence messages (through the bride of course! who wants to give away the disaster that’s in store :D)!?

I can’t believe she’s going to be a mom! I can only pity the poor baby that’s on its way (am done pitying the husband by now 😉 ). Love you girl! Can’t wait to see you!

back to school

Just before sleep took over by about 11.45 yesterday night, I got up from in front of the TV and walked into the comp room — to sign out from gmail: instead, I saw a mail from a very close friend with a subject line “:)”. Now, with this guy, you can expect just about anything. So, I fight my sleep and sit down to read it though (it’s long too). I expected to fall off the chair any instant. But oh my! the mail made me smile so wide, I thought it’d tear my mouth through 😀

It was a letter of ‘memories’: an unexpected reminder of the good times. I wonder what made him write to me. He began with the line “There is nothing more exciting and soothening than the letters from an old friend… I thought: so who am I going to write to today? And I could think of none other than you.”  I am touched. I’d love to lie to you all by saying I was one of the best of his friends then; someone who influenced his life so well…blah blah… But no. I don’t have a clue why he could think of no one else…and I couldn’t care less…

Because the mail was about memories of school…of that age of innocence when you say/do/act like there’s not a care in the world; that age when all one wants is to get out of school-life and get into a job; that age when (like now too) Fridays are welcomed whole-heartedly, but boredom settles by Saturday mid (unlike now!!); that age where one does all sorts of mischief (and think parents don’t realise); that age when everything was just so nice…

Oh! The minute I finished reading it, I told myself “I must blog about this”. Instead, I sent him a reply with a “Lon-mail-ahead alert” 😀 Truly one of my longest mails ever — with all that I could remember; sad enough, because we were classmates right from Std 7, but I barely even noticed him till Std 10: even after that, we were only quite formal with each other. It wasn’t until 3-4- years back that we got in touch again and became fast friends. So, to have received such a mail from him, reminding me of those days was a real surprise — and a wonderful one at that!

I’m not quite sure he’ll survive through my reply 😉 he’ll either stop using the Internet, or we’ll continue this by pulling in more friends. Oooh…I am so damn elated (and excited at that prospect) right now. A million thanks for taking me on a trip back memory-lane, MC. You’re the best!!

Wanna go back to that age…all the way back to school.

Has to be the weirdest tag ever!

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
“Damn! Nalla kani…which means the day’s gonna be bad!” 😀

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
Rs 2.50…and an electricity bill for 500! 😀

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
Bore…that’s what tags are! 😀

4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
I always delete miss calls from my phone…(I get those more than calls because I’m never near my ‘mobile’ phone) 😀

5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Kill Bill

6. What are you wearing right now?
T-shirt and skirt.

7. Do you label yourself?
Oh yea…am my favourite 😉

8. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently own?
Nike

9. Bright or Dark Room?
Medium 😉

10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
Happy (she just found a job!)

11. What does your watch look like?
Duh! It looks like a watch!

12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping 🙂

13.What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
“Haha i didnt even enquire. Wait by even ill let you know whether i’ve done it”

14. What’s a word that you say a lot?
LOL

15. Who told you he/she loved you last?(please exclude spouse , family, children)
An anonymous sms! don’t know who the sender is!

16. Last furry thing you touched?
My hair…when I went to Chennai, my usually smooth hair became furry!! I  blame the coastal climate! 😀

17. Favourite age you have been so far?
7 and 8 — at Guruvayur!

18.  What was the last thing you said to someone?
“Njaan Facebook-il UNO kalikkuaa” 😀 (means, I’m playing UNO on Facebook)

19. The last song you listened to?
Ikhtara — from Wake Up Sid!

20. Where did you live in 1987?
Thiruvananthapuram (was too young to venture out alone — I was 3.)

21. Are you jealous of anyone?
Naah!

22. Is anyone jealous of you?
Of course! Who wouldn’t be? I’m the most perfect anyone can be 😀

23. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
Bindi, dress and watch

24. What’s your favourite town/city?
Thiruvananthapuram!

25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
Last July — to my dad and mom — just saying I love them a looooot and that they’re the best parents ever.

26. Can you change the oil on a car?
Depends on where the oil is 😀 😀

27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
first big crush: is in the USA (currently in india on vacation);
first love: am not quite sure which that was; think i should play safe and say I’m married to him 😉 😀 😀

28. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
Nope! But it will, soon! Am gonna pierce my nose 😀

29. What is your current desktop picture?
Me n the husband 🙂

30. Have you been burnt by love?
Yep — whenever I cook for the husband! 😀

And here goes: Verbivore, Ramya, Vimmu, Mahak and Smita

P.S.: Edited after Reema commented: You’re tagged too, girl! 😛

just a tumbler of water

It isn’t often you feel like a potential murderer. Well, today seems to be one of those strangely different, out-of-the-ordinary days!

When I read murder stories, I always marvel (in the most negative way) at the ease with which people plan to and successfully murder someone; similarly with movies. But in those cases, there’s always the consolation that it’s not for real. The shock is when such reports come in the news! And I just sit around wondering “How can a person ‘kill’ someone!?” And for someone like me who refuses to kill even an ant, it’s the biggest mystery. So, when today, I was the one scheming and planning, the shock knew no boundaries!

It’s been sometime now, that I have been contemplating on a murder. And every passing day makes me more and more determined to commit this one. I know it takes one hell of a stone-heart to even think of something like this — but I’m sure I want to do it — yes, you read it right: I want to do it.

So, now you must be wondering why the hell I’m writing about in a public forum. I do not intent to murder and act like a saint. I am totally willing to accept the consequences. I’m doing this only because my object of ‘affection’ here does not deserve to live. If I allow it to, I’ll be responsible for the wreck of two other lives. The love that existed all along will be forgotten: slowly, but steadily. And a day will come when these two lives will be totally dispensable for the other. I cannot allow for that. Better that this one dies.

I opened a Google window and started typing “how to murder a” and immediately the following options popped up:

• how to murder a man (it’s not a man I want to murder)
• how to murder and get away with it (not my intention; you wouldn’t be reading this if it were!)
• how to murder a millionaire (why’d anyone wanna kill a millionaire unless you are due to receive all he’s got!?)
• how to murder a rich uncle (if he has no kids and loves you the most, fine; else, isn’t it more sensible to be his fav nephew/niece?)
• how to murder a and not get caught (again, i repeat, not my intention!)

Well, the option I was looking for was clearly not available. I discussed with a few close friends
— and finally decided that it should be a death-by-water! After all, most people wish to have a sip of water before they die!

Now I know how easy it is to kill. All it takes is some amount of hatred, some amount of despair and a huge amount of determination and reckless disregard for all value — monetary, moral and emotional! In my case, I’ll need just one more thing: a tumbler of water.

Once I’m done, and this post is crawled over by the search engine, Google will add one more item to its current list of “how to murder a”. It’ll have an option for “how to murder a television”!

Onam’s here again…

Yet another Onam’s here — and this year I don’t get to celebrate it at all (for one year, we’re off all celebrations ‘coz granny passed away). My first Onam after marriage and there it goes down the drain! Hmmm.

All these years, when we ‘had’ Onam to celebrate, it never was a big deal for me. I used to love getting all decked up in the Kerala traditional wear, have all the relative buzzing around, have that sumptuous sadya…but well, Onam was always just another festival. But somehow, this year, seeing everyone else celebrate makes me feel weird — and guilty for letting poor Onam never get that importance and high-office! 😀

And to add to all that, the husband is totally down with fever — high temperature and body pain and all that. And I am also sneezing my way to the same condition. I read somewhere that if you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib; if you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. Surprisingly, I’m still alive, and my ribs are in perfect order 😀 Hope it remains so for at least another week — because my parents are coming tomorrow! Yey! The only thing I can say about continuous sneezing is that it makes you look like a drunk, sleep-deprived Chinese! (The red eyes, small and squinted) 😀

Anyway, yesterday a friend popped up on chat and asked whether I had a bath in the morning and went to the temple after that. Well, when I told her Onam had no religious connections, she asked me why, then, Mahabali roams around with a “kuri” on his forehead. I told her it was the then Devas‘ and Asuras‘ version of our modern bindi 😉

Well, Onam really has no ‘religious’ aspect about it. It is the day the Asura King Mahabali comes up from the underworld ‘Pathalam‘, to visit his beloved Kerala and the ‘citizens’ there — a once-a-year allowance granted by Lord Vishnu . The day when all of Kerala is dressed at its best, is laden after a good harvest and awaits a grand year ahead. (The story behind all this will give enough material for 3 posts!!)

Onam, therefore, is significant in two ways…
One, it is the commemoration of the community at large and celebration of past history, the Mahabali legend; and two, it is the celebration of the harvest, tied with the memory of the golden age of prosperity. Onam is the time when Kerala is all set to welcome back its favourite King for a day of feast and enjoyment. After the monsoon drenches this beautiful state for almost all of the Karkidakam (the Malayali’s ‘dark’ month — when nothing inauspicious is taken up), Chingam walks in,bringing with it spring and auspiciousness. Chingam signals harvest, which is celebrated in the form of Onam!

This sense of joy, prosperity and merrymaking is celebrated traditionally with folk games, family get-togethers and lots of sadya. 😉

The best part of Onam has always been the Onakkodi. People gift one-another and wear new clothes during Onam. ‘Vastra’ (dress) also stands for ‘heart’. So, new dresses signifies the ‘renewal’ of the heart with new thoughts, cleansing it of all bad memories!

Atham pathinu ponnonam… Onam celebrations start on the day Atham (the Malayalam star) falls — 10 days before Thiruvonam (another Malayalam star). A huge circle made on the courtyard, coated with cowdung (to keep the flowers in place), is beautifully decorated with flowers and called ‘Onapookkalam’. In most houses, this is done with great mastery and ends up being a beautiful work of art!

On Thiruvonam, before Mahabali comes for his yearly visit, houses are cleaned and decorated with flowers and traditional lamps. A beautifully enchanting display of fireworks and lighting turns the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, into something of a fairyland!

Sumptuous sadyas are spread on the greenest of all plantain leaves. The sadya is an important part of Onam — its the yearly feast even the poorest person in the state doesn’t wish to miss. “Kaanam vittum Onam unnanam“, they say. It means that to have a share of the Onasadya, one should be willing to sell even the bare necessity he owns! The sadya is a full course meal, served strictly in the following order: 3 pickles (ginger, lime and mango), a thoran, a kitchadi, avial and koottucurry on one side of the leaf; on the other, banana chips, banana pieces dipped in jaggery, a small banana, pappads, rice and parippu. Then follows sambar, a milk-payasam with boli, a jaggery payasam with banana, and finally, a bit more rice with pulissery, rasam and then buttermilk! (The sadya varies from district to district in kerala; this is the Thiruvananthapuram style and I know only of this!) 😀

Different parts of Kerala celebrate Onam in their own different ways: Athachamayam (a cultural procession in the royal town of Tripunithura); the Thrikkakarayappan further north; Kathakali dancers in gorgeous costumes enacting the legends in Valluvanad;. an impressive procession of elephants adorned with their nettipattoms in Thrissur, where masked dancers perform the colorful Kummattikali; the famous Aranmula Vallam Kali in Aranmula; Pulikali (Kaduvakali) all over the state..everyone has one’s own concept of Onam! And, these are but a few of the various traditional activities that are enjoyed during Onam.

The swing, one most important part of Onam, is enjoyed by everyone:  decked in their best, they sing Onappaattukal, swinging to and fro from high branches.

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Oh! Good ol’d Onam. I miss it sooooo much this year…and when a friend send me a pic he clicked of the lit-up roads in Thiruvananthapuram, I saw nostalgia run across the room and take a huge leap on to me! Sigh!

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Happy Onam, everyone! Have a great day today…and a graaaand year ahead — while I head off to sneeze in piece peace! 😀

Image courtesy: Google Images. In the spirit of Onam, forgive my borrowing your images; if you do not like it being posted here, put in a word; they shall be promptly removed 🙂

the day I almost thought my last thought!

August 14: The day I almost thought my last thought! The day I thought about a lot of things in such a rush, for fear of never being able to think about anything, anymore! The day I thought I was dying. Gosh, I guess I’ll never forget this day! 😀

August 13: Went out with my brother to Garuda Mall, Bangalore. Walked around for a looong time…in and out of shops, without buying anything, driving the sales-people crazy, until I got myself a sprained muscle on my left shoulder. The pain kept bothering me, but I gave no heed. Cooked dinner, made idly batter for the next day (one helluva job, I tell you!), saw part of some incorrigible movie, quarreled with the husband for some silly reason (I blame the pain for the irritation) and went off to sleep.

August 14 (again!?): Woke up with the pain again. Made breakfast, by the end of which I realised I couldn’t adjust myself to a lot of positions, thanks to the pain that sent me buckling every now and then! Had loads of office work, which I managed to (grossly uncomfortably) complete by 4.30. Meanwhile, I checked the Internet for symptoms of appendicitis, kidney stone, tumor and what not. The only disease I didn’t check for was swine flu, thanks to the half dozen mails that keep pouring in everyday on the subject.

I was in pain — breathing in and out, sneezing (mere thoughts of sneezing, even), burping, laughing, walking, lying, sitting, standing, crying, yawning…just about everything I’ve learnt to do in life hurt like hell!! Till about 5.00, I managed to sit around with my brother, trying to laugh at myself and my antics, without moving my belly. Then I retreated to my room, decided to lie down. And oh God…in the next 10 minutes, the pain shot up so bad, I hardly had any voice. My brother, right in the next room, couldn’t hear me whimpering, crying out in pain, calling out for mom!

In the next hour, the husband, back from office, came in with my brother to see me in tears, writhing on the bed. And of all the things in the world, he asks to no one in particular “Is she really in pain or is she just trying to pull my leg?”  I’d been pitying myself for almost an hour, taking in the sad fact that I would be alone and in pain when I die…with no one to even share my will and last wishes…when he asks if I were pulling his leg! Bah! (Well, in his defense, I must admit that when I called him up, asking him to come home fast, I was laughing and trying to keep the pain at bay.)

Anyway, the next 2 hours flew by. I was almost carried to the car, taken to a hospital (where I managed to crawl up the stairs and settle myself, screaming and moaning and whimpering) which turned out to be just for preganant women, turned out, again carried to the car, rushed to another hospital, given an injection and sent for an ultrasound abdomen scanning. Turns out, it was just a plain old muscle spasm. Anyway, the doctors doubted a possible infection in the kidney and prescribed a urine test. After 4 full glasses of water, hopeless PJs, incessant laughter (which still hurt, by the way) and relief over being “alive”, we left the hospital, leaving the receptionist and her colleague laughing over my adamant bladder that refused to refill itself. 😀

There’s slight pain, still. A deep breath / or a sharp one before a sneeze, still hurts. But it feels great to be alive! 🙂 It feels great to not be in pain! It feels great to be able to blog about it…and laugh about the pathetic condition I had been in yesterday! The husband says I’m like a car with perpetual ‘patch work’ — it’s either backpain, or memory loss, or headache, or some sort of problem! Health seems to be the only blessing I was never endowed with in abundance by God! 😀

But whatever! Yey! I am alive 🙂

P.S.: My idea of adopting a child has been reinforced since yesterday’s incident 😀 😀 I just cannot take any pain. 😀

a strange weekend…actually, two!

No no… I did not disappear again. Had made an impromptu trip to Trivandrum, my hometowncity.

The trip turned out to be one of those “totally unplanned, outright fun” ones! All the cousins and second cousins and uncles and aunts were cooped up under the same roof — and we all had so much fun there! Apart from marriages, Onam, and a once-in-a-while first-birthday party, we don’t get together like this: and I can’t really remember the last time we all were together like this…the last time we all had such fun. About 40-odd people — adults and us ‘kids’. Everyone forming tiny little groups in every single space available and chattering, laughing (and even singing), merry-making…

Occasionally, when our laughter crossed the allowed decibel level, aunts and uncles came barging in, admonishing and ordering us to behave ourselves. Yet, at the same time, we could see the ‘elders’ in the family sitting around and sharing old-time stories…their childhood and their pranks — and laughing their hearts out!

But it was all very strange throughout — this merrymaking in the family; the neighbours must all think we’re a bunch of sadistic, barbaric  tribals! Well, can’t really blame them: because it was not really one of those “planned get-togethers”; and I was not really on an “unplanned, fun” trip. I had hurried off to Trivandrum to attend my grandmother’s funeral…

Grandma’s death was much anticipated…and entirely “prayed-for”, I might say. She was slowly entering a phase of immense suffering…and everyone was hoping she’d be called away before too long. So, in a way, we could defend ourselves, saying we were celebrating her ‘escape from sufferings’ or such crap.

Granma

There! She was the last member of that generation’s lot. Now, apparently, “we all” will never ever get-together like this anymore. Grandma had perhaps been a unifying factor: the reason why everyone got together under that roof occasionally. Now, each to one’s own.

Guess it’s true; four of my cousins are in the middle east; one’s in Delhi; one’s in Cochin; one’s planning to go off soon to Australia; two of us are here in Bangalore; one is off to UK…and God knows when we’ll all see each other again. Unlike those good old days, none of us seem to be really pulled home by force, excitement and urge to attend to weddings and childbirths in the family any longer. We all have our excuses: projects to be completed; horrid bosses who grant no leave; new job, so no leave; exams, so can’t skip school/college; low attendance, will get into the professor’s black list ; out of the country, can’t be bothered to make a presence…and so on. Somehow, a death seem to bring a jolt to each one of us (and to the bosses, teachers and professors as well, God-knows-how!) and everyone turns up somehow or the other.

So, maybe sub-consciously, we all knew it was one of those “this-wont-last-too-long-and-may-very-well-be-the-last-time” times together…and must’ve taken full advantage of it. Bonded with each other asap…sang, danced, wrestled, fooled around, had palmistry sessions, had PJ-sessions…had “tonne kanakkinu fun, fun” (like the tagline of a local radio station goes)!

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Now, its all over. Everyone’s gone back to whatever they were up to before 3.00 a.m. on July 16th!